Increasing numbers of loud and littering tourists are damaging the world's largest mangrove forest, which stretches from Bangladesh to eastern India and is home to Royal Bengal Tigers and a colorful collection of other wildlife that includes spotted deer, birds, crocodiles, and various species of snakes.

The mild weather of winter at the moment is sure to draw visitors to the Sundarbans forest, and with it throngs of tourists whose careless picnicking and sightseeing destroy the environment and disturb the animals. Nearly 100,000 local and international tourists [bn] flock to this UNESCO world heritage site each year, with that number increasing each year by 20-30 percent.

This issue has fueled debate in local media and the local blogosphere.

The tourists start pouring in on steamboats and smaller rowboats by 10 in the morning. The steamboats blast loud beat music as they cruise through the rivers deep in the forest. The tourists litter empty plastic potato chip packs and polythene bags in the river from the steamboat, causing much harm to the environment.

Tareq Onu, a bird watcher, wrote on his Facebook page [bn] during a visit to the Sundarbans:

As tourists, we are extremely ignorant. We still don’t know what travelling etiquette is and how not to disturb nature. You cannot enjoy the serenity of the Sundarbans by playing loud music.

The number of vessels traversing the many rivers in the Sundarbans has also grown. In 2011, 25 ships and cargo vessels sailed in the area, but only a year later that number had spiked to more than 130. Every day that these vessels blast their hydroelectric horns and release contaminated exhaust and oil waste, they destroy the Sundarbans environment a little more.

The fishermen who go to catch fish or crabs or snails sometimes cut down trees from the forest and bring them back tied to their boats along with the day’s catch.

But there is hope. In an effort to end irresponsible tourism and to promote eco-tourism in the Sundarbans, the government has drafted legislation [bn] that would prohibit tourists from carrying any items that may cause damage to the environment. Items such as microphones, megaphones, chemical products, plastics, and discarded foodstuff would not be allowed to be dumped into the river, and boats would be required to have proper waste disposal systems on board.

Support our work

Global Voices stands out as one of the earliest and strongest examples of how media committed to building community and defending human rights can positively influence how people experience events happening beyond their own communities and national borders.